Elastic fibers provide flexibility for a variety of organs, and collagen works as the supporting role for our body. Now it is known that a decrease in the crosslinking degree of elastic fibers causes a series of diseases in connective tissues, such as skin relaxation, emphysema, cardiovascular abnormalities, macular degeneration induced by vascular hyperplasia, sexual organs prolapse and urine incontinence. These lesions are senile chronic diseases, although not lethal but greatly affect people's living quality. Therefore, elastic fiber development and maintenance in the body is an important means to improve people's living quality.
Elastin polymerization is an important process for elastic fibers to maintain their crosslinking. Early in 2004 and 2006, Liu and his colleagues found that Lysyl oxidase-like 1(LOXL1) is the key factor specified to maintain and update the development of elastic fibers. Loss of the specific effects from LOXL1 to direct the crosslinking formation of elastic fibers is known to result in a series of dynamic lesions in connective tissues, including skin relaxation, emphysema, cardiovascular abnormalities, macular degeneration induced by vascular hyperplasia, sexual organs prolapse and urine incontinence. Further studies have found that, along with the aging of tissues and organs, the level of LOXL1 is greatly reduced, accompanied by the decline of crosslinking in elastin fibers and/or an increase in elastin monomers. These findings reveal that it is possible to delay the aging process of extracellular matrix in biological organisms by enhancing the expression levels or activity of LOXL 1 protein. (Nature Genetics 2004 (36): 178, Am J Path 2006 (168): 519 IOVS; 2008 (49): WO/2005/069975, 2599; U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,856, U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,857, European patent EP1706139).
However, in prior art, there is no drug screening method applicable to screen out a material which can effectively promote the expression level or activity of the LOXL1 protein.